Hi - this is Srinivasan Sampathkumar from Triplicane. I have a passion for Marine Insurance, Cricket and of course Temples especially Thiruvallikkeni.
From Sept 2009, I am posting my thoughts in this blog ; From July 2010, my postings on Temples & Tamil are on my other blog titled "Kairavini Karayinile " (www.tamil.sampspeak.in)
Request you to keep providing your feedback which will help me improve and present better.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

From today on there is no IPL – it all ended yesterday and what will the cricket crazy Nation do ?.In the end, not many complained of too many matches or a very lengthy schedule – when there were 74 matches – 17 more than the Inaugural, 1979 and 1983 WC matches put together.Cardiff is the capital and most populous country of Wales.Do you know the Indian connection ?Coming to the finals of the IPL 4 – In the first 8 overs of CSK innings, there were no fours – Arvind was on a hat-trick and so was Chris Gayle and yet everything in the wishlist of a Chennai fan was fulfilled.

the fans at Cardiff when it rained

Chennai crowds gathered in huge numbers supporting for CSK – and one could see yellow wave on roads leading to Chepauk.Before something on the match – there are two issues that need to be addressed by the Nation, BCCI, the Cricket fans and you and Me.

In Western World, night matches are held to attract crowds who would otherwise complete their routine work and enjoy their evening / night on the ground, especially on a week end.In this cricket crazy Nation, for a match at 8 pm, people start gathering around right from 16 hrs.

Issue No. 1 :TN is reeling under severe power shortage – is there need for matches in flood light wasting so much of precious energy.Don’t tell that they run on alternate power & so on….

Issue No. 2 :Chepauk is in the heart of Chennai closer to Marina beach.Huge crowds throng the beach now a days as escape from oppressive Chennai heat.There are more than a dozen routes that run from Anna Square via Triplicane – Bells Road where Chepauk stadium lies.The Police starts regulating the traffic from 5 pm on IPL days and from 0530/0545 pm, the traffic is halted on this busy road.The plight of those commuters is seen to be believed.Old and ailing persons have to wait for hours and find it so difficult to get buses for reaching their destination simply because there is IPL match.

The buses are then diverted through Triplicane High Road.The present day Bharathiyar Salai (Pycrofts Road)has shrunk to a lane and the bus drivers find it so difficult to drive in this.Besides the intersection of Pycrofts / Triplicane High Road (near Rathna Café) is narrow and those drivers who turn their buses into the TH Road really merit awards.

In minutes, the situation turns chaotic with so many vehicles bustling for space and the police cop finds it so difficult to bring a semblance of order.There are hospitals on this road and imagine the plight of the patients !

Actually, the cars and other vehicles that try to reach Chepauk should be denied entry on the busy roads; they should park their vehicles elsewhere and reach the stadium.Or the Venue needs to be shifted to OMR or someother place – the popularity of the game would anyway attract people who are prepared to spend any amount to see their starts play !

In stark contrast, the reality at England was different.At Cardiff – Sri Lankans are playing England in Test no. 1994 – the first Test in the Series and the attendance is so thin.Glamorgan first played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, against the Indian touring team in May 1967, but it was not until nearly three decades later that it officially became the county's home. For the major part three quarters, CSK went on rampage without losing a wicket and only the oppressive heat brought Vijay down.

Dwayne Bravo faced the hat trick ball and struck it straight over for a six and CSK set a target of 205 which only Gayle could have chased.This was the third highest in IPL 2011, and the highest in finals.The first wicket partnership was 159- in the first power play 56 came.Eventually a tired Murali Vijay who was clearly struggling to stand in the heat, lifted a full toss to Vettori making 95 off 52 balls with 6 sixers and walking away with the MOM majestically.The nonchalant flicks and the one guide that bisected point were a treat to watch.

only the heat could down Vijay

Ashwin was given the new ball – the first one turned viciously and Gayle watched the second cautiously.The third took the edge, which Dhoni neatly accepted and the RCB’s fate was sort of sealed.There after there was not much of resistance.CSK won by a thumping margin of 58 runs and the result was foregone conclusion throughout the RCB chase.It was a day nothing went right for RCB or rather everything went right for Dhoni & CSK.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

By the end of today, [28th May 2011]
the IPL 4 extravaganza would be complete – whether Dhoni is able to
extend his charm or would the channaites get blown over by another Ga(y)le
would be known. IPL
window has provided great entertainment and has unearthed many a new
talent. The one who
partnered Gayle – Mayank Agarwal is yet to make his first class debut.

Sure you heard of Frankenstein’s monster –
first appeared in Mary Shelly’s novel. An
8-foot-tall (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin is an ogre of demonic
proportions. Is IPL
saga another demon created by BCCI ?

Players, as individuals know themselves
better and are the better ones to judge on when and where to play. Sounds logical but not when some
prefer the lure of the money over the National interests. We have seen some foreign players
ducking the call to come over and play in the minefield of money where over 3
months, you play 14 – if at all you are selected in all – and for a bowler the
role is about delivering 24 legitimate balls. And when the National call comes,
players speak of being with their families, wanting rest and revealing their
injuries !!

Now it is the time for the Indian Board to
feel the heat – Virender Sehwag pulled during the show, Gambhir towards the end
– Sachin, Zaheer, Yuvaraj all require rest. Dhoni keeps away from one dayers and
lot of things happening. Is
it the player, the IPL owner or the BCCI who is to be blamed ? Gauti’s lucre was $2.4M [11 cr +] for less than 70 hours of
playing time.

In football where the Club fancy is a rage,
players return for National duty for major events. Almost who have played forIndiain recent times ran
in the IPL race but now it is a depleted team which is touring theWest
Indies. Sure
the players deserved a good break to be with their families or doing whatever
pleased them after the sternous World Cup – but why none preferred it during
these 2 months ?? It is
common in any professional sport for the athletes to make financial choices but
it would be unfair to laud them as National heroes later, if they decide to
keep away when it comes to representing the Nation. The game does not require cheerleaders
but independent watchdogs to ensure that their own creation does not
cannibalise them.

The withdrawal of Yuvraj and Sachin and the
injuries has provided scope for some. The ODI squad is :

At Chepauk yesterday, MI were in for a
crude shock or perhaps they invited it by asking Abu Nachim to bowl to Chris
Gayle.

Abu Nechim Ahmed was a promising pacer who
surprised everyone when he joined ICL leaving Assam Cricket Association in
2007. The defection
took place when they were in Chennai to play Buchi Babu invitational
event. He had earlier
representedIndiain U19. He was ousted from the Ranji side –
palyed for Royal Bengal Tigers

Yesterday at Chepauk, he must be wondering
his ill luck as he ran into bowl to Gayle and get torned. MI had Lasith
Malinga and Munaf Patel but somehow chose Abu to bowl. The first
over sequence wasWd2; 0; 4;4;
wd5; 6; 2 & 4 = 27 runs – the worst possible start. Mayank partnered brilliantly and
even when Gayle left 11 short of a century, a score of 230 + beckoned. RCB failed and ended up 185/4
which in the end proved too much for MI who finished at 143/8 with Sachin
getting out a left arm spinner – another ICL returnee Syed Mohammed. Again the logic of Harbhajan
coming up at 3 and keeping Kieron Pollard in for longer was unimaginable. Pollard was caught brilliantly
by Abhimanyu Mithun on the longon one handed.

So are you whistling for CSK today ? or willGayle produce one more knock ??

Most of us are interested in the welfare of the society and the first tendency of those with kinder hearts is to help the underprivileged children get better education. Many such good natured persons have the habit of imparting learning by teaching the school syllabus to children in the neighbourhood.It is hard though, it might look very simple but very demanding.Initially one would be carried by emotions but understanding the lessons and teaching them in the manner that the student would understand requires more than mere intelligence and willingness to teach.A teacher is professionally trained to impart education and there cannot be easy substitution.

But what happens in a school room atmosphere can be very different.Over a period of time, the teacher might lose interest or where they exhibit extraordinary interest, the students may not exhibit even the minimum willingness expected of them.There are so many distractions these days for the school children which make them sway away from studies.

In a classroom atmosphere there could be inequalities arising out of various factors.When a student loses focus at the initial stages, suddenly he / she would find themselves being far away, not able to understand what is being is taught and would stay away from the main stream.It is also the innate inhibition, the lack of courage to ask questions or tell the Class teacher about their inability to comprehend that makes them feel aloof.Such students are most likely to lose track and fail in the examination.Failure is a monster and could potentially destroy the student.A failed student not only loses studies but becomes an object of ridicule, loses self confidence and in the mental pressure to establish, some turn violent and some would even turn anti – social.

A Social Service Organisation’s objective is to help the society.We want better citizens.We want to inculcate in them great qualities and we felt the need for taking care of those students who are on the margin and would not succeed if no personal attention is provided.It is also a matter of fact, that many of these children hail from economically underprivileged sections and cannot afford to have private tuitions.Poverty, hunger, suffering are all the same – irrespective of caste, creed, community or religion.

We have in our earlier years arranged for tuition closer to examinations to take care of those children who dreaded the examinations but any last minute work is only half good.We have been debating on this and contemplating on providing a secure solution.

Thus our idea of a professionally run tuition centre was born.Here we wanted to have Instructors who are in tune with the modern ways of teaching and are already in touch with the present day syllabus.We also wanted to select students who we felt were average or on the margin – just wanting to be nurtured and cared for.

A couple of years back on 6th July 2008, on a very auspicious day – SYMA Growth was born.It was inaugurated at NKTNationalGirlsHigherSecondary School, Triplicane by Shri R Sekar, IPS, (the then) Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai.From that day onwards, lots of SYMA volunteers have strained themselves to ensure success of the project.This year in the +2 Public Examination, we have enjoyed a moderate success of 88% pass.40 of our candidates passed in the Examination.

Class

Medium

Appeared

Passed

Science Group

English

9

9

Tamil

9

9

Accountancy Group

English

12

14

Tamil

10

13

40

45

Selvi Umayal stood first securing 1143 / 1200 and Rajeswaran scored 1089/1200. They like the many others hail from the poor echelons of the Society. Rajeswaran’s father sells plasticware daily and earns around Rs.100 per day. By the grace of God, SYMA has been able to bring a smile in their lips and have guided them to a brighter future. Mission accomplished, we continue to strive for the betterment of the society.

We pray to Almighty for success of this project and look forward to continued support of you all.The success is due to the blessings of Lord Parthasarathi who guides us in all our steps.The great efforts of our teaching staff : - a great team ofnoble teachersconsisting of : Mr S. Venkatadri, Mrs. KN Vijaylakshmi; Mrs. Subashini; Mrs Vijaya Krishnan; Mrs Gandhimathi, Ms Devasena, Mr Shahul Hameed; Mr KS Venkatakrishnan, Mr Kannan; Mrs Lakshmi Arulalan, Mrs Padmavathi; Mr T.S. Sriraman, Mr T Venkatesan, Mr Srinivasan and Mr Senthil Murugan deserve great appreciation and our heart felt thanks to them.

Friday, May 27, 2011

27th May 2011 is a very important day for lakhs of students who appeared for the X Standard Public Examination [State Board] in Tamilnadu.The results have been announced and a whooping 7,14,786 students have passed – 83% pass. Five students have obtained the State First with 496 marks.Yes 496 out of 500.

SYMA has reasons to feel happy and proud.The foremost responsibility of a Social Service Organisation is to improve the society and help the underprivileged.This is better done by providing the children good education.Arising out of various reasons, some students could lose focus and would tend to fade away.A Social Service Organisation’s objective is to help the society.We want better citizens.We want to inculcate in them great qualities and we felt the need for taking care of those students who are on the margin and would not succeed if no personal attention is provided.

We have in our earlier years arranged for tuition closer to examinations to take care of those children who dreaded the examinations but any last minute work is only half good.We have been debating on this and contemplating on providing a secure solution.Thus our idea of a professionally run tuition centre was born.Our Professional Tuition Centre SYMA Growth was inaugurated on 6th July 2008 on a very auspicious day, at NKT National Girls Higher Secondary School, Triplicane by Shri R Sekar, IPS, (the then) Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai.From that day onwards, lots of SYMA volunteers have strained themselves to ensure success of the project.This year we enjoyed a modest success in the +2.

Today, the 10th results of the students of our tuition centre – SYMA Growth have been excellent. Out of our 23 students, 22 have passed [96%]. 14 amongst them have obtained more than 400 marks.In fact 5 of them have got marks above 450.Here is the list.

We also place on record our thanks to all of you who supported financially and assisted us in many ways.

No words can describe our gratitude to the management of NK Thirumalachariar Educational Trust and NKTBoysHigherSchool. We thank the NKT Management for providing us the infrastructure and all the support. We thank Smt. Leela Sekhar, Secreatry of NKT Trust and the Head master of the School Mr S Venkatadri.

One more year and SYMA happily pursues relentlessly its goal.We have started distributing the application forms for enrolment into Tuition Centre for the Educational Year 2011-12. The applications will be processed and deserving students would be enrolled after personal interview conducted by SYMA Office bearers.

The guidance and professional tuition is being provided free of cost to the students and We seek to uplift those downtrodden by providing quality education. Come and join us in our movement to serve the Society better.